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Leadership Advice

These Small Business Owners Are on a Mission to Save Their Christmas Tree Farm (Video)

December 19, 2016

Meredith is Editor-in-Chief at Fundera. Specializing in financial advice for small business owners, Meredith is a current and past contributor to Yahoo!, Amex OPEN Forum, Fox Business, SCORE, AllBusiness and more.

Shopping for the perfect Christmas tree is a beloved, wintertime tradition for millions of families. If you’re one of the families near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, you have Tim and Claudia Wassom to thank for keeping that tradition alive.

Tim Wassom has been growing Christmas trees for nearly 30 years. Today, he and his wife Claudia run Tannenbaum Tree Farm. In the farm’s heyday, the Wassoms delighted kids and adults alike with their annual crop of trees and a cozy snack of cider and cookies while they shopped.

Unfortunately, urban expansion began to encroach on the Wassoms’ land, and they were forced to sell. The loss was traumatizing. Tim described it “like losing a part of myself for all those years and starting over.” Starting over hasn’t been easy, either—heat, drought, and torrential rain have made regrowing their crop a challenge.

“You’re not just growing a plant,” Tim explains. “You’re putting part of your yourself into it.”

The Wassoms, however, are undaunted. Claudia makes evergreen wreaths to sell as they wait for the trees to regrow. They hope to have their farm booming again with the next few years.

Watch the video to see beautiful aerial shots of Tannenbaum Tree Farm and hear more about the emotional journey of Tim and Claudia Wassom.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those
of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Meredith is Editor-in-Chief at Fundera. Specializing in financial advice for small business owners, Meredith is a current and past contributor to Yahoo!, Amex OPEN Forum, Fox Business, SCORE, AllBusiness and more.